Aberrant Apolipoprotein E Expression and Cognitive Dysfunction in Patients with Poststroke Depression

Background: Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) is associated with some diseases with cognitive function defect. Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of ApoE on poststroke depression (PSD) risk and to define objective markers for diagnosis. Methods: The cognitive function, serum ApoE, and peripheral mononuclear blood cell ApoE mRNA expression of patients with PSD were compared to age-matched control patients with stroke and healthy volunteers. Sixty-seven patients with stroke were selected according to the cerebral infarction diagnosis standard of the Fourth National Cerebrovascular Disease Conference and divided into a PSD group (28 patients, 43–76 years old) or a control stroke group (39 patients, 43–78 years old) using the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression, and compared to 40 healthy volunteers (42–78 years old). Cognitive function was evaluated by analysis of event-related potentials (ERPs), while expression of ApoE mRNA was determined by quantitative reverse transcription–polymerase ch...